What's changed? AA reward flight availability.

[VC10]

I have been an AAdvantage member since 1984 and have generally been able to get flights at a reasonable points cost.
Just got back from a five week,13 flight trip to Europe (all paid) and thought I would check AA for flight next year to Europe. I hadn't looked at the site for quite some time. Availability seems to be almost non-existent (in J) and QF seem to have the lock on flights out of Australia. Did AA change the program?

 

[levelnine]

A number of programs have removed most business class award availability to QF members into/out of Australia.

Try getting a JAL flight into/out of Australia. Or Qatar. Or Emirates for that matter. There's a little bit here and there, but nothing like it was pre-COVID.

The lack of availability on QF compounds the matter of course.

The AA problem is a little different however. AA seem to have removed saver business class awards on most of their long haul international routes. I've been looking into/out of Asia and Europe and seen almost none. Indeed, FlyerTalk has reports of this going back to the start of 2022.

It seems like AA's shift to dynamic pricing has taken full effect, meaning the bottom level of pricing (saver — the one available to oneworld partners) is mostly gone. I have my doubts that AA will remain an option to QF members into the future with this move.

 

[VC10]

A number of programs have removed most business class award availability to QF members into/out of Australia.

Try getting a JAL flight into/out of Australia. Or Qatar. Or Emirates for that matter. There's a little bit here and there, but nothing like it was pre-COVID.

The lack of availability on QF compounds the matter of course.

The AA problem is a little different however. AA seem to have removed saver business class awards on most of their long haul international routes. I've been looking into/out of Asia and Europe and seen almost none. Indeed, FlyerTalk has reports of this going back to the start of 2022.

It seems like AA's shift to dynamic pricing has taken full effect, meaning the bottom level of pricing (saver — the one available to oneworld partners) is mostly gone. I have my doubts that AA will remain an option to QF members into the future with this move.

Thanks. Sounds like the beginning of the end for frequent flyer schemes to me. Looked at United also (been a member since the 90's) - same story. Unless you have millions of points you won't be able to get a flight.

 

[hossein_au]

I presume this is an 'in/out of Australia' thing rather than a frequent flyer thing. What do people think?

 

[levelnine]

I presume this is an 'in/out of Australia' thing rather than a frequent flyer thing. What do people think?

The FlyerTalk thread I referenced mentioned no saver availability into/out of Asia and Europe as well. While I haven't searched every route, that has also been my experience with AA of late.

 

[luxury-lizard]

You could try EY which can be booked using AA points but does not show up online - use Air Canada to search then ring AA. You can also try searching for fights ex-Asian cities then buying a ticket from Australia to that Asian city. This isn't an AA "problem" as such - award fights are scarce on all programs.

 

[WindDrifterOZ]

I am having a slightly different issue. I am trying to use AA points to book a QF flight from MEL to LAX and I can see reward availability for economy on Qantas site but AA is saying they can't see anything. On another flight I can see DFW to MEL this time Premium Economy on Qantas website and AA on phone say they can't. I am only Bronze level with Qantas so no chance of it being early release. Anyone else having this issue? I thought if it was an Economy Classic Reward AA would be able to see it. They said you have to wait for a release but its available now? So confused.

 

[justinbrett]

I am having a slightly different issue. I am trying to use AA points to book a QF flight from MEL to LAX and I can see reward availability for economy on Qantas site but AA is saying they can't see anything. On another flight I can see DFW to MEL this time Premium Economy on Qantas website and AA on phone say they can't. I am only Bronze level with Qantas so no chance of it being early release. Anyone else having this issue? I thought if it was an Economy Classic Reward AA would be able to see it. They said you have to wait for a release but its available now? So confused.

I could be wrong, but as far as I'm aware not every seat is released to partners, from my understanding the increased seats announced a few weeks ago were for QF only.

 

[RooFlyer]

Welcome to AFF @WindDrifterOZ

 

[WindDrifterOZ]

I could be wrong, but as far as I'm aware not every seat is released to partners, from my understanding the increased seats announced a few weeks ago were for QF only.

Thanks @justinbrett appreciate the insight.

Post automatically merged: Mar 14, 2023

Welcome to AFF @WindDrifterOZ

Thanks Roo!